


Queer Subtext and Interpersonal Relations of Communication Studies

by IceSword46



Series: Collaborative Sexual Education [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Bisexuality, Blow Jobs, Britta and Slater make the briefest of appearances but not enough to tag them as characters, Canon Compliant, Drinking, Episode: s01e16 Communication Studies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25660756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceSword46/pseuds/IceSword46
Summary: "So what else is on your college bucket list?" Jeff asks, and he supposes he shouldn't be too shocked when Abed pulls up a list on his phone."Pull an all-nighter. Steal a rival school's mascot. Do a keg stand. Have a same-sex experience. Have a dramatic fight with a professor where you both learn something. Go to a toga party."Jeff tries to hide the fact that he's hung up on the same-sex experience bullet point, and also that he can't decide within himself if he's more surprised or excited by this new information.An alternate take on Season 1, Episode 16.
Relationships: Abed Nadir/Jeff Winger
Series: Collaborative Sexual Education [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921210
Comments: 14
Kudos: 92





	1. Queer Subtext

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of the characters, I just made my own take on how one night may have transpired.

Jeff did not foresee his week playing out this way. He had planned on going to the Valentine's Day dance to be a hopefully passable co-chaperone with Michelle before getting a real dinner, somewhere that was _not_ Greendale's cafeteria, and then the two of them heading back to his apartment to spend the rest of the night forgetting about Greendale entirely. But after Britta managed to get aggressively drunk on a Wednesday and leave a voicemail to prove it Michelle decided the two of them should "put things on hold" after Jeff explained to her why he was blowing off their date to drink with Abed.

Now Jeff is sitting in Abed's dish chair which, while very comfortable, is difficult to get out of. He's only been there for a few minutes, collapsing into it after Abed made them dance it out for a bit and he's not sure how much time has passed. It's dark out now, and he's beginning to just feel the haziness of the several drinks he's had so far. Jeff watches Abed with an interest that surprises even himself. Abed's just taken another long pull from the bottle of vodka they'd been sharing. "Do you _like_ drinking it straight like that? Or do you feel like it's just the way you're supposed to do because _Animal House_ told you to?" Jeff can't stop himself from asking. 

Abed cocks his head to think for a moment, looking at Jeff intently as he gathers his thoughts. Jeff squirms in the chair. "It helps me get into the mindset of a drinking buddy," Abed eventually says. "I've never been one before and I want to do it justice. Plus get drunk at a college party is on my college bucket list and this is a good starting point ."

"My usual drinking buddies-" (and Jeff only says the phrase mildly sarcastically, to his credit) "-don't usually drink bottom shelf." 

"Your usual crowd has changed over the past couple of months," Abed says matter-of-factly, and Jeff doesn't have a retort to that that doesn't depress him or come off more cruelly than Abed deserves, so he stretches over to swipe the bottle from Abed, their fingers touching briefly, to take another drink.

"I'm sorry if I'm doing this wrong," Abed suddenly says. He seems to make himself smaller in the desk chair he's sitting in across from Jeff. "I'm not always good at interpreting social cues." He pauses. "Alcohol doesn't help." He doesn't meet Jeff's eyes, fussing with the top of a can of beer he'd finished earlier.

"You're fine," Jeff says, and finds that he means it. This is the first time he's felt like a "drinking buddy" generally cares about him in an embarrassingly long time. He clinks the bottle against Abed's empty can to seal his words. A small smile appears on the other man's face. Jeff kind of likes the feeling of making that happen. He attributes that thought to the vodka and lets it pass for now.

Sometime later, as Val Kilmer is drinking at a pool party in the movie they're half-watching, Jeff says offhandedly, "I haven't drank SKYY in years."

"It tastes terrible," Abed says so bluntly that Jeff can't help but laugh. 

"I'll buy you a scotch," Jeff promises and Abed smiles again, a glint of teeth. "You can't just knock it back like you have been, though - which is surprisingly impressive, I do admit - you have to take the time to appreciate it."

Abed ducks his head, almost bashful and says, "that'd be fun." Really, how is it that he's not at least slurring his words a bit? Abed hands him the bottle again and commands, "drink. You're not in a state to call Britta yet." Jeff realizes he hasn't even thought of Britta in a while as he takes a swig and grimaces at the taste.

Abed takes a drink from a _different_ bottle of booze and Jeff truly does not know where they keep coming from. "Abed, you don't have to drink every time I take a drink. And did you buy all of these specifically for tonight?"

Abed shrugs. "I don't know alcohol very well so I figured it would be more appropriate to have a variety of options. I know you like scotch but I don't know what type of alcohol hits you hardest so I wanted to be prepared. It's part of the job." The words are said in a way, a manner of acceptance, that Jeff finds himself kind of _offended? Or hurt?_ He maneuvers himself upright in the chair.

"I don't want this to be an obligation for you, Abed," he says with unexpected sincerity. 

"It's not an obligation," Abed says. "I want to help and this is a way I feel like I can do that. I can't organize things like Annie, or charm people like Troy, but looking at things from an outside perspective? I can do that."

Jeff furrows his brows. "You're part of the group, Abed. You know that, right?"

"I know," Abed says, though Jeff thinks it sounds a little like he's trying to convince himself. Maybe that's the drinks talking, though. But then Abed says, "I haven't really been a part of group before. People don't usually want me around for extended periods of time." 

"Well _I_ do," Jeff says definitively, and Abed gives him a look, eyes flashing with something Jeff can't read. Jeff course corrects. "The study group does." Abed takes a drink. Jeff mirrors him and only gets slightly distracted watching the movement of Abed's throat as Abed swallows his drink. "Most movies fast forward through the getting drunk montage," Jeff says as an attempt to recenter himself. 

"It's a missed opportunity," Abed replies. "You miss seeing the conversation change in level of coherence which can bring an element of humor depending on how the characters respond to their inebriation. You also lose the depth that conversations can reach when people are a little looser and braver with their thoughts. I think both of these are a better way of showing the progression while still developing the characters." 

Jeff nods before pausing and asking, "are we developing as characters right now?"

Abed hums and says, "I don't know if we're developing as characters yet, but I like to think we're furthering our relationship." 

"We saw each other shirtless the first day of class. We have a furthered relationship than I do with most of the group," Jeff says dryly and Abed actually laughs. 

"I've gotten several compliments on that shirt," Abed admits and Jeff chuckles. "I know Troy and I are friends, and Annie and I are friends, but I do feel closer to you than most of the other members of the study group."

Jeff doesn't know how to respond to that so he takes a drink and blames the warm feeling in his chest on the 19-dollar vodka.

He's saved by the arrival of the pizza Jeff had forgotten they had ordered. Maybe he was more drunk than he realized. Jeff tipped the kid delivering the pizza probably more than he should have but he figured the guy earned it after the onslaught of directorial questions Abed wanted to ask him before he could leave. Abed pushes his tables back in front of the couch so that it can provide its intended purpose rather than serve as a makeshift dance floor or a place for Jeff to do more push-ups. He's sitting on the couch when Jeff walks over and drops down beside him. Abed hands him a beer, keeping one for himself, that he makes them shotgun before they can actually start eating. Jeff shotguns at least two more beers before they finish off the pizza.

"So what else is on your college bucket list?" Jeff asks, one leg propped on the pizza table and the other draped over the arm of the couch and he supposes he shouldn't be too shocked when Abed pulls up a list on his phone.

"Pull an all-nighter. Steal a rival school's mascot. Do a keg stand. Have a same-sex experience. Have a dramatic fight with a professor where you both learn something. Go to a toga party."

Jeff tries to hide the fact that he's hung up on the same-sex experience bullet point, and also that he can't decide within himself if he's more surprised or excited by this new information. So much for not developing as characters tonight. He tries to choose his next words carefully and moves himself into a more dignified, upright position. His thoughts are taking an extra long time to stop spinning and collect themselves, which he doesn't think he can blame solely on the alcohol. "Abed, I hope this isn't rude of me to say, but I didn't expect sex to factor into your college equations."

Abed turns to face him. "I'm not asexual, Jeff. I don't see sexuality on a binary homosexual-heterosexual divide but I don't feel as though I've had a sufficient amount of sexual encounters to be able to determine a sexual identity for myself."

Jeff is only feeling slightly overwhelmed and he takes another drink even though he probably shouldn't. "That's a practical way of looking at it," he fumbles, suddenly hyperaware of his proximity to Abed on his dorm room couch. 

"I don't know if I'm trying to be practical necessarily. I just don't think I should attempt to limit myself to anything. I have trouble understanding other people's emotion and intentions sometimes and I know those can be especially complicated when you tie in romantic and sexual components. I've found both men and women attractive but I don't know if the attraction runs deeper than that and I don't want to try and define myself prematurely."

And, well, Jeff is drunk. And Jeff hasn't hooked up with a guy since he was a "lawyer." And Abed is unconventionally attractive with with his lean muscles and sharp, angular features and bright smiles if you're lucky enough to see them. And apparently Abed is more apparently more sexually available than Jeff realized so Jeff shouldn't be _too_ surprised by himself when he decides to lean over and kiss Abed.

The kiss isn't particularly special, just closed lips on surprisingly soft closed lips and when Jeff pulls away Abed's eyes are already open. "I wasn't angling for a pity kiss," Abed says with unexpected force behind the words.

"It wasn't out of pity," Jeff tells him and Abed's eyebrows raise the most minuscule amount amount before his face goes neutral again. There's a pause and Jeff starts to get very worried that he misread all of this and may have really screwed things up.

"I didn't presume you to be bisexual when I cast you as the leading man," Abed finally says, a hint of inflection to allow for Jeff to correct him and provide a different label for himself. Jeff gives a casual shrug of agreement and Abed continues. "I'm sorry for making heteronormative assumptions about you. It doesn't affect your status in the group or as a viable leading man so I shouldn't have done that," and Abed is so genuine about it that Jeff is taken aback. He hadn't been out to any of his coworkers for the same reason he'd never tell Pierce: it was none of their business and Jeff didn't need any possible extra bullshit. Abed's clinical approach to it is almost endearing. Jeff lets out a small breath of relief that he didn't realize he was holding in. 

"I forgive you, Abed." Jeff says. "I can even kiss you again to show I mean it. If you want me to." When this evening started at no point would Jeff have guessed that it would involve him kissing and actively flirting _(kind of? It's not his usual type of flirting but Abed isn't his usual type of romantic partner)_ with Abed yet, here he is.

Abed is silent for a minute. "This is one of those times where I have trouble identifying intentions," he finally says, voice quiet. "Because I thought that we were friends and I'd never had the impression that there was any sort of deeper possibilities there like you have in your friendships with Britta or even Annie. I know you called me rakishly good-looking that one time but I tried to really interpret your meaning when you said it and it didn't feel like it implied the potential of something more than a casual compliment."

Jeff rests a hand on Abed's knee, trying to help ground him. Abed looks up at him, all dark brown eyes that can't quite meet Jeff's own. "I kissed you because I wanted to, Abed, and because I do genuinely find you good-looking. As long as you didn't feel uncomfortable with me doing it, I don't regret it and I would be interested in doing it again," Jeff tells him. 

"I'm not sure how that would affect the group dynamics," Abed says, brow furrowing. "Your will-they-won't-they with Britta is tenuous at best sometimes and if the very foundation of our group can be disrupted by just a drunk dial, I don't know what us kissing would do, and I don't know of a movie or show to pull this situation from."

"You could just treat it as an item on your bucket list, make your own story for it," Jeff offers, impressively casual. Now that the possibility is out there, Jeff is finding he hopes Abed takes him up on it.

Abed looks at him for a long moment before saying, "okay."

Jeff tries to mask his face into his usual indifference but he can't quite keep his usual cool and collected composure. "Okay," he replies.


	2. Queer Subtext

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Really I just put the smut into it's own chapter in case some folks weren't into that. If that includes you, Chapter 3 is a short epilogue that takes place the next morning/night.

Abed repositions himself, settling closer to Jeff on the couch. Jeff almost asks how they're going to do this but before he can Abed leans forward and kisses him. Their lips slide together and Jeff is vaguely aware of the end credits of whatever movie they had been watching playing in the background.

Abed's hands come up to cup Jeff's face, thumbs at his cheeks and fingers draping along the back of his neck, and Jeff is honestly kind of impressed with Abed's technique. Jeff slides his tongue along Abed's bottom lip, testing the boundaries of whatever this is. Abed's mouth opens and Jeff smiles into the kiss as he progresses it further, resting his hands on Abed's hips. "Is this okay?" Jeff asks him after a few minutes.

"Yes," Abed says, sounding a little winded. His face is flushed and Jeff tries not to feel a little proud of himself. "It's hurting my neck, though. My back, too."

Jeff lets out a small laugh. "This couch isn't built for two men over six feet tall."

"The bed is," Abed says. Again, it's said factually, no hint of innuendo or intention. Jeff hopes it's not insensitive to find that as charming as he does

"Are you comfortable with moving to the bed?" Jeff asks, one hand still settled at Abed's side. "We can stop whenever you want. Whenever you feel like you have had a sufficient 'same-sex experience.'"

"What we've done so far definitely counts as a 'same-sex experience' but I would be okay with moving to the bed, I don't want to jump to any conclusions," Abed says. There's a sly smile and his eyes are shining and okay, yeah, there's definitely flirting happening, Jeff decides.

There's a moment of awkwardness as they try and realign themselves at the bunk bed before they settle into a comfortable position facing each other, legs just slightly slotted together. Now that he's in a more comfortable position, Jeff lets his hands roam a bit, one sliding Abed's shirt up to lay at his lower back, the other weaving through Abed's hair which is mind-blowingly soft. Abed's hands come to grab at Jeff's ass which Jeff was not expecting but was certainly not going to complain about. 

At some point Jeff tugs off Abed's flannel and Abed slides off Jeff's jacket. Abed pulls his lips away from Jeff's to mouth his way along Jeff's neck with just a hint of teeth and Jeff arches into it with a groan. Seriously, Abed had _technique_. Abed stops for a moment to ask, "is this okay?" Jeff lets out a breathy sound that he had meant to be a laugh before saying, "yes, it's very okay." Abed immediately goes back to work, lips pressed to Jeff's throat, and Jeff grinds against him involuntarily.

"Okay, I know you said you had never been with a man before but you certainly know what you're doing," Jeff tells him.

Abed gives him a quizzical look, and the look is somehow heightened with his mussed up hair and wrinkled shirt. "I said I had never had a same-sex experience, I didn't say I was a virgin."

"Fair enough," Jeff says.

"I won't know what I'm doing if we do go any further, though," Abed replies.

Jeff shifts so that he's resting on the bed propped up on one arm. "Do you want to go any further?" Jeff _wants_ to, he really wants to, but this isn't about him. 

"I do," Abed answers decisively, a smile playing at his reddened lips.

Jeff tries to tamp down his grin as he kisses Abed again, more fervently, and he slides Abed's shirt up his body. Abed shifts and wiggles until he's able to get it off and then does the same to Jeff. They press together, skin on skin, and Jeff gets a little more purposeful with the movement of his hips, which wins him a gasp from Abed. "Can we?" Abed half gets out, hands tugging at Jeff's jeans to get his point across. Jeff nods, undoing the button of his pants, as well as Abed's for good measure. The pants join the shirts on the floor next to the bed.

Jeff guides Abed onto his back and slides a hand beneath the waistband of his briefs. He brushes against sensitive skin as he slides the briefs off and Abed moans softly. The moan turns into a sharp inhale as Jeff brings his hand back up and begins to work his wrist. He kisses Abed hard, tongues sliding against each another, and he can feel Abed rocking into the movement. He shifts so he can kiss his way lower, neck to chest to torso to stomach. He pauses and looks at Abed. Moonlight shines through the slotted blinds, lighting the stretch of his neck, casting shadows off his jawline, and illuminating his wide, dark eyes.

Abed nods at Jeff's unspoken question and groans loudly when Jeff's mouth meets his hand. Jeff keeps up his rhythm, adjusting his position on the bed or pulling his hands away to slide along Abed's stomach or thighs at his leisure, enjoying the tensing muscles and fine hair he feels and the quiet sounds Abed will sometimes make. Abed slides a hand through Jeff's hair at one point with a soft grip and Jeff lets out an involuntary moan. He gives Jeff the warning some time later and Jeff ignores it, letting Abed finish. Jeff feels a little shy, knowing Abed is watching him as he swallows, but when he meets Abed's eyes they're dark with arousal. Abed kisses him afterwards, open-mouthed, which Jeff shouldn't find as attractive as he does.

Abed starts to slide his own hand down Jeff's body, tracing along muscles as he goes. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Jeff says, fighting the urge to push up into Abed's touch."

"I know," Abed replies. "And I appreciate how respectful you've been of any potential boundaries I may have had. But I want to do this." And with that Abed takes Jeff in his hand. He finds a pace, grasp tentative at first, then more assured and Jeff lets his head fall back on the pillow. He gives soft suggestions in terms of speed or firmness and Abed responds immediately, seemingly intent on making it as good for Jeff as possible. "I'm going to use my mouth now. Let me know if I need to do anything better," Abed tells him.

"You're doing just fi--" Jeff begins but the words catch in his throat when he feels Abed's lips on him. Jeff gives him a few pointers in terms of positioning his lips or cheeks to make the experience easier for Abed, but he's otherwise content to let Abed take his time learning what he liked or what worked for him. He looks up at Jeff a couple times when he has to take breaks, as though to make sure he's doing okay, and Jeff hopes the blissed out look on his face answers that question for him. Abed pulls his mouth away when Jeff tells him he's close and uses his hand until Jeff reaches his own release.

"I'm sorry about the mess," Abed says. "I just didn't know that I wanted to do _that"_ \- and he motions to Jeff - "yet."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Abed. That was good. It felt good," Jeff tells him, and Abed smiles softly. Jeff watches Abed shift to the edge of the bed, pulling on underwear, as he goes to get Jeff a towel. Jeff cleans himself off as Abed rummages around and comes back with a pair of sweatpants.

"I just figured," Abed says with a shrug.

"Thanks," Jeff says and pulls them on. Abed pulls on a pair of pajama bottoms for himself. There's an uncertain quiet now that they're both partially dressed again and Jeff isn't certain how to end it. He wants to just play everything that just happened off with usual breeziness but he isn't sure that's what the moment calls for. Abed's half looking at him, more inscrutable than usual.

"I know that's not how _I_ saw this night going," he eventually starts. "But I'm certainly not complaining that it happened. I just don't want you to think that this was some meaningless thing." He's not sure what words he's trying to find, or how to find them.

"I know," Abed replies, thankfully cutting Jeff off from having to really work through the fact that he just gave a member of the study group his first blowjob and that he can't just dip out first thing in the morning, let alone the rest of the semester. That'll be a thing to deal with tomorrow, like the hangover he knows he's going to have. "You were helping me cross an item off of my bucket list. And I'm glad that it was with you because I didn't feel nervous or pressured about any part of it. That was fun. I liked everything we did, so that also tells me more in terms of figuring out what I like as a person in general. I don't know if things will be different in the morning, though."

"I think it's morning now," Jeff half mutters. He has no idea what time it is and he's long since lost count of how much he's had to drink.

"Don't remind me," Abed groans taking a drink from a half-empty beer can on the floor. He scowls as he swallows. "I should have bought some bottles of water, too."


	3. Communication Studies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue: Featuring the briefest interpretations of the scenes in the study room and at the dance.

Jeff laughs. "Most movies don't show the morning after the big party." He takes the can from Abed's hand and takes a drink himself. There's not much left and he regrets it almost immediately, but he needed to clear his mouth out with something.

"For good reason," Abed says. "This is going to be terrible." 

"We don't know that," Jeff replies, even though he knows that, yes, it's going to be terrible. Jeff rolls himself onto the floor and from the ground he watches Abed pull himself up to the top bunk and then into the top drawer of his dresser. He would have stayed on the bed had he known Abed wasn't going to but he doesn't have time to question it as he falls asleep.

They were right. It was terrible. Jeff's head is pounding and his mouth tastes like he just turned 21. Abed nearly falls out of the dresser and on to the ground as Jeff is pulling on his own pants again. "You good?" he asks.

"I can hear my thoughts and also everything happening in this dorm," Abed mutters, rubbing his eyes. "Everything is loud."

"Yup," Jeff replies. "Now come on, we have to go study." Abed grumbles something unintelligible as he pulls on a pair of sunglasses and just puts a pair of jeans over his pajama pants.

Jeff makes a pit stop at his car to make use of his travel toothbrush, hair gel, and deodorant and Abed pretends to drive Jeff's car until Jeff swats at him to stop and Abed frowns. So far things seem like a fairly standard morning for Jeff except for the part where he went down on Abed only a few hours ago. Abed hasn't said anything more about it and Jeff is okay with that.

The two of them get razzed by the rest of the group. Britta throws some extra grief his way so he's pretty sure they're at least on the path towards being okay again. He shoots Abed a discreet thumbs up and he thinks Abed means to do a finger guns back at him but instead Abed just says, "pew pew" while looking vaguely towards him and pointing at the wall behind Annie, who giggles.

Michelle still isn't necessarily thrilled to see him when he tries to talk to her at the dance later that night but she lightens up a little when Britta plays his message to her: the one where he waxes poetic about how Michelle makes him happy and even if they aren't together right now he wishes her all the best because he wants her to be happy and that he wants Britta to be happy, too. "I think it may still be necessary to take a break right now," she tells him. "But once we figure some things out, we can figure out where we stand." 

"I'd like that," he tells her, and means it. She goes back to chaperoning and he finds Abed standing at a table, looking slightly worse for wear but better than earlier.

"It seems like everything turned out okay," he tells Jeff.

"Yeah, you're a pretty good director," Jeff replies, and Abed smiles.

"I know," Abed says with ease. He takes a drink of his soda. "And you helped me come up with a new bucket list, so you were good to work with, too." 

Jeff raises his eyebrows and Abed looks back at him, expressionless. "Is it what I think it is?" Jeff can't help but ask.

"If you think that it's sexual things that I want to try, then yes," Abed replies candidly. Jeff huffs a laugh. "You helped me answer some questions about myself and now I want to learn more." 

"Good for you, Abed," Jeff says. 

He's starting to walk away when Abed continues, "you could keep helping. If you want." Jeff turns back to look at him. Abed's face is still neutral. "I figure you might also have a bucket list. It's fine if you don't, or if you don't want to help at all, you already did once. But I'd imagine it might be easier to get started with someone who I already have a sexual history with and you said last night was good." He takes another drink, seemingly nonplussed, while Jeff tries to make words.

" I'll think about it, " Jeff finds himself saying.

"Cool," Abed says. "Cool, cool, cool."

**Author's Note:**

> Did I shoehorn in a semi-breakup situation to avoid any cheating messiness? Yes, yes I did. 
> 
> Did they ever find Professor Slater? I hope so, I did like her. 
> 
> (The Val Kilmer movie I give the shortest of references to is Real Genius. I liked the idea of Abed pulling up some party-based 80's movie to pull notes from but I didn't want to go with the most straight-forward option of Animal House or with one that didn't age well.
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> I've always had a soft spot for Jeff and Abed's relationship either platonic or romantic and this wave of people discovering Community after it dropped on Netflix has reignited that fondness I had for them. I hope I did them justice.


End file.
